Beware the Ides of February!

Since you last saw me here, I have been living an unusual, cricket-less existence. Perhaps, not quite as much as the Indian batting line up in Australia, but painfully cricket-less nonetheless. So, when I tuned in to the Carlton mid ODI tri-series few days back, I realized that the Indian batting line up continues to dwell in its state of prolonged delirium on foreign shores. Our openers are as useless as one legged men in an ass kicking contest, the bowlers, well I guess they are only there so that BCCI can avail group discount on air travel.

Watching the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, is disturbing yet boosting at the same time. After long, I’ve found someone who is as clueless about his life and current being as me and yet somehow he manages to thrive in the status-quo. Possibly, there is someone out there in the team management who still believes that the nasty moustache is daunting enough to derail the likes of Johnson and Steyn, stupid as it may sound it has to be true for I see no other plausible reason for his inclusion.

And then we have Rohit Sharma, who, had it not been for this similar to Kung-fu-Panda story line, would have not enjoyed such a long stay with the Indian team. So when Master Oogway – read Sachin Tendulkar – chose him as the dragon warrior, no one had an option but to accept him. No matter how much I revere both Oogway and Sachin but Rohit Sharma’s existence is a stark reminder that, “There are NO accidents”.

I can go on and on with this rant, but in order to sound more like an evolving manager I must at least make an attempt to analyze and convince the rest that -"Yes, we can!"

I bet none of you will raise your eyebrows. Blogger gives me reader statistics, I know how many read this bullshit. I’m safe.

So, what do we have, four people from the last world cup winning squad but what we also have is an almost identical team for all three formats of the game since some time. What 4140 minutes of forced Organizational Behavior has taught me is that by some unusual psychological power vested in togetherness the teams which play together for longer, perform better. The Indian team is the same group which has been with each other through the thick at home and thin on alien territory. So possibly what we have is a unit now and not just a bunch of disarrayed individuals vying for personal glory.

Also, we’ve been pulling off some mammoth and insane chases of late, though in totally friendly conditions. But seriously who cares if it's valid?
Thanks to Kohli and the erstwhile Dhoni, we can proudly ascertain that it’s never over for us until it’s actually over. Their adept soaking of pressure certainly adds that calm facet to the team, and with the super over rule being introduced for this series we can definitely use some calm nerves. Yes, I'm high on hope.

Besides this, there’s something intuitive within me- something that usually has it wrong- which tells me that this tournament could be Dhoni’s last and players like him don’t get an ordinary sendoff. He has always had this big stage performing presence, so, we may be in for a perfect swansong. An overseas World Cup looks like the only thing which has eluded him other than some healthy, black hair.

Now coming to the role of management. Though BCCI deserves every bit of flak coming their way, there’s no denying that the Australian Test Series, the ODI Tri-Series and the World Cup could not have been better placed. The team has been given enough time to acclimatize itself and to get a sense of the juicy, green wickets in Oceania. Though it’s already been some time but I reckon the knee voltage is imminent and we will see a sudden surge shortly.

Not only this, England and Australia, the other two teams who have been lucky enough to knock around the leather on similar tracks won’t be seeing us until the group stage gets over. The current series also gives the team ample opportunity to measure the opposition and have a good look at the probable contenders to the trophy. The Poms must have smirked at the last line. Note to self - Flattery brings more hits. 

The team as whole has much more experience in the ODI format and their dismal performance in the Tests is not a sufficient indicator to predict a similar story in the shorter version. Probably we can expect a better show from them, cometh the Ides of February.

Lastly, I have no effin idea as to what I have just written. Returning to this blog gave me enough happiness that getting an ego boost through a worthy post and some appreciative readers seemed rather absurd and painstaking. There are more chances of people at NASA figuring out the genesis of the universe than anybody ascribing meaning to the aforementioned text.

On a serious note though, the sentiments flowing have all been true. I hope the Indian Team does an XL in Australia. #GharMeinGhuske #WontGiveItBack

P.S. As I write, we have had another batting collapse. Yes, the positives suck, much more than Gargantua, not the giant but the hole.